"West Lake" Long Jin, 2019 from 喫茶去茶社 (chi cha qu tea house in Shanghai)

I recently received this "west lake" LJ from a friend in Shanghai. He tells me this is 2019 harvest.

Seems to me it is bud and 2-3 leaves predominantly. Shape and size are a bit heterogeneous. Color is evenly green-yellow. Hard to tell from pics, but it is a bit more yellow than green.

What you cannot tell from pics: there is white fluff on the side of container but not on leaves. Dry leaf has very little scent. When wet, there is a subtle scent of green beans.

I brewed gongfu style 7 g / 200 mL at 80 C for 30 sec / 30 sec / 40 sec / 50 sec / 1 min / 1 min 30 sec / 2 min / 5 min

Had acceptable taste and aromas for 5 steeps before tapering off.

Aromas of sweet green beans and some nuts are there. Taste is distinctively sweet (mostly fresh corn), but also has a slight aspartame sweetness. Minerality is strong providing good structure. There is also a mild umami. Almost no bitterness in taste, but there is definitely astringency on the tongue and throat long after swallowing until the 3rd steeping.

I suspect this is post qing ming and the overall grade is low. However, i feel this might be an heirloom cultivar instead of LJ 43 but cannot be sure. I am told this was expensive. This is definitely not worth the price if it is more than $10 / 100 grams.

Comments

Glenburn king single estate first flush 2019 from vahdam

Leaves are small and bud like. There are many broken leaves as well and leaves with holes indicating insect bite. This could explain some of the Muscatel. 1.8 teaspoon 350 mL water 90 C water Steep 1: 4 min Steep 2: 8 min Steep 3: indefinite time Light, flowery, herbal Some muscatel in nose Muscatel, herb, flowery hops, light wood notes in taste Lingering herbal, fresh hop and cooling mint I am told mint is often a sign of Assamica tea but these are supposed to be chinary.

2020 Competition Grade Jin Jun Mei Black Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

From vendor: Late March Harvest Tong Mu Guan Village (Fujian) Review: Strong yeast and honey suckle aroma from dry leaf. Lots of orange yellow powder from the small, tight buds. A small holed filter is necessary. Brew parameter: 4 g / 100 mL 90 C in porcelain Rinse / 10s / 10s / 15s / 35s / 1 min / 2 min / 5 min Strong honey and milk chocolate notes. Smooth and thick with stone fruit (peach) aromas and sweet yam flavors. Some vegetal notes develop in later steepings. Early steepings are quick and strong but drops off after 3rd steeping. Strangely, a pu-erh like wet pile funk is faintly present. This is not particularly pleasant. Western brewing is also acceptable at 1 g /100 mL for 3:30. However, the chocolate notes are much more mild when brewed in this way.

Brewing Taiwanese oolong

Bao Zhong: After some experimentation, I found it works best in this way: ~7.3-7.5 g/125 mL. Basically a little less than yancha. Boiling hot water No rinse 30s /35s/45s/1 min etc Keeping it at 6.5 g but longer time makes the later steeps less balanced for me. Going higher to yancha ratios overwhelms me with qi. Oriental Beauty This tea can behave like hong cha and white tea hybrid with some oolong notes. for natural clean stuff - 4.5-5.5g / 100 ml - start at 15s and slowly go up increasing by 5-10s. Allow the cup to cool each time- treating it evenly And gently but also with strength (boiling water) like a fine lady results on full appreciation of aromatic journey For green gao shan Ive learned it depends a lot on the nature of the leaves and the brewing vessel. When using thin porcelain, 6 grams/100 mL, doing Rinse/45s/35s/45s is a good starting point When using a thicker vessel like kobiwako clay, a similar ratio can be appropriate, but maybe a slightly faster first infus...

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